"Now I have one radio-phonograph; I plan to have five. There is a certain acoustical deadness in my hole, and when I have music I want to feel its vibration, not only with my ear but with my whole body. I'd like to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing "What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue" -- all as the same time. Sometimes now I listen to Louis while I have my favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream and sloe gin. I pour the red liquid over the white mound, watching it glisten and the vapor rising as Louis bends that military instrument into a beam of lyrical sound. Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he's made poetry out of being invisible" ( 7 - 8).
In the paragraph above, Ellison combines the colors of red, white, and blue as he describes having a sloe gin fizz (red) over vanilla ice cream (white) and listening to the blues (blue!). The colors suggest America and patriotism in an ironic way. He expresses a wish to have not one, but five phonograph players for his music. I wonder why? The five fingers of the hand allusion to Washington's speech? The five senses?
Table of Contents
1: Prologue & Chapters 1-5
2: Chapters 6 - 10
3: Chapters 11-15
4: Chapters 16-20
5:Chapters 21-25 & Epilogue
Music in the Prologue (pages 3-14)
"Now I have one radio-phonograph; I plan to have five. There is a certain acoustical deadness in my hole, and when I have music I want to feel its vibration, not only with my ear but with my whole body. I'd like to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing "What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue" -- all as the same time. Sometimes now I listen to Louis while I have my favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream and sloe gin. I pour the red liquid over the white mound, watching it glisten and the vapor rising as Louis bends that military instrument into a beam of lyrical sound. Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he's made poetry out of being invisible" ( 7 - 8).
Click on the above link and explore some connections with Armstrong and jazz.
The phonograph
The Louis Armstrong house museum
A sloe gin fizz
"What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue" performed by Louis Armstrong
Comments:
In the paragraph above, Ellison combines the colors of red, white, and blue as he describes having a sloe gin fizz (red) over vanilla ice cream (white) and listening to the blues (blue!). The colors suggest America and patriotism in an ironic way. He expresses a wish to have not one, but five phonograph players for his music. I wonder why? The five fingers of the hand allusion to Washington's speech? The five senses?
Mrs. Muirheid, January 25, 2011